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    willing volunteers, Father. You can’t expect much accuracy in your communications if you’re using slaves who hate you.”
    “Quite apart from the fact that the requirement for membership in the DDT is a viable planetary democracy. So the DDT has to see to it that the planet develops a democratic government.”
    Yorick nodded again. “That’s why the DDT has SCENT—to sniff out the Lost Colonies, and see to it that they develop democratic governments. And SPITE and VETO have to see to it that SCENT fails.”
    Father Al’s mouth tightened in disgust. “Is there no place free of political meddling any more? How many agents does SCENT have on Gramarye?”
    “One.” Yorick sat back, grinning.
    “ One? For so important a planet?”
    Yorick shrugged. “So far, they haven’t needed any more—and too many cooks might spoil the brew.”
    Father Al laid his hand flat on the table. “The agent wouldn’t be the Rodney d’Armand who discovered the planet, would it?”
    Yorick nodded.
    “And Rod Gallowglass? Where does he fit into this?”
    “He’s Rodney d’Armand. The man always feels more comfortable using an alias.”
    “Insecure, eh?” Father Al gazed off into space, drumming his fingers on the table. “But effective?”
    “Sure is. So far, he’s thwarted two major attempts by SPITE and VETO together. What’s more, he’s used those victories to put the current monarchy on the road to developing a democratic constitution.”
    Father Al’s eyebrows shot up. “Extremely able. And he’s about to discover some psionic talent of his own?”
    “He’s about to disappear,” Yorick corrected, “and when he reappears in a few weeks, he’s going to be a genuine, full-fledged, twenty-four-carat wizard, able to conjure up armies out of thin air. And that’s just the beginning of his powers.”
    Father Al frowned. “And he won’t do it by psi talents?”
    Yorick shook his head.
    “Then what isthe source of his power?”
    “That’s your field, Father.” Yorick jabbed a finger at the priest. “You tell us—if you can catch up with him before he disappears, and go with him.”
    “You may be sure that I’ll try. But why isn’t he a psi? Because he comes from off-planet?”
    “Only the genuine, Gramarye-born article occasionally turns out to be a telepath—and usually a Page 20
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    telekinetic or teleport, too, depending on sex. The women are telekinetic; that means they can make broomsticks fly, and ride on them, among other things.”
    “The witches of legend,” Father Al mused.
    “That’s what they call ‘em. They call the esper men ‘warlocks.’ They can levitate, and make things, including themselves, appear and disappear, sometimes moving ‘em miles between.”
    “But Rod Gallowglass can do none of these things?”
    “No, but he wound up marrying the most powerful witch in Gramarye—and they’ve got four kids who’re showing a very interesting assortment of talents. In fact, they’re all more powerful than their mother. When they start realizing that, she’ll reallyhave trouble.”
    “Not necessarily, if they’ve raised them properly,” Father Al said automatically (he’d been assigned to a parish for several years). “Odd that they should be more powerful than their mother, when they don’t have psionic genes from both parents.”
    “Yeah, isn’t it?” Yorick grinned. “I just love these little puzzles—especially when someone else gets to solve ‘em. But it might not be all that strange—there’re still new talents that keep cropping up on that planet. I mean, they’ve only been inbreeding for a few hundred years; they’ve got a lot of untapped potential.”
    “Inbreeding… yes…” Father Al had a faraway look. “The answers would lie with their ancestors, wouldn’t they?”
    “Buncha crackpots.”